Home and 14 days of Quarantine

So I made it home and the quarantine started. Luckily, I had enough food for at least two weeks in the trailer. Linda had shopped as well and she had enough supplies for the two of us for at least a couple of weeks. From that point of view, we’re doing well.

As Linda wasn’t going to be distancing from me for two weeks, we were both under quarantine for the two weeks.

Carleton Place  - Covid camping
Linda and Pierre camping in the garage.

Linda was really missing camping and under the quarantine we couldn’t go anywhere so we decided to set up and camp in the garage.

Carleton Place  - red robe guy meringue
Quarantine cooking included vegan meringues with pistachio decoration.

Cooking seemed to be a thing. I learned to make vegan things.

Carleton Place  - Peanut brittle
Peanut brittle.

Peanut brittle tastes great but sure is messy to make. With all the cleanup involved, the next time I make it, I will make a larger batch.

Carleton Place  - planting seeds
Planting seeds for the spring.

Cooking wasn’t the only project. I thought it would be a good idea to plant some seeds and start our garden early.

Carleton Place  - Red robe guy pie
A nice berry pie.

More cooking. We had some frozen berries and I thought using them to make a fancy pie would be good. Linda thought it was delicious.

Carleton Place  - results of planting
Seedlings starting up. Corn in the foreground.

The seedlings started to sprout. I had not expected them to come out that fast and some of them were far too early to survive.

Carleton Place  - Puck and the ginger cookies
Puck is not fond of Trader Joe’s ginger snaps.

When I was down in Arizona I did a little treat shopping and one of the last things left was the ginger snaps. For some reason, this cat thinks it’s all right to be on the table.

Carleton Place  - Cool Range
This stove is cool…but it broke soon after.

I cleaned the oven and after that the phrase “Cool” appeared on the electric range. A few days later Linda and I were talking about changing to a gas stove. The oven light had gone out and last time this occurred, the socket was the problem. This time it was the bulb. When I tried to take it out without unplugging the oven the glass separated from the base and as I was removing the base there was a short and the circuit board went POP!

Carleton Place  -  Covid doggie mask
Linda has a lovely face mask for the Covid-19 mask protocol.

One of our neighbours had a friend who made the fun mask for Linda. Not a big deal having the mask as it makes shopping safer and easier for all.

Carleton Place  - Morrel mushrooms in the walkway by the house
I found these lovely mushrooms growing beside the house.

Finding the morel mushrooms beside the house, I checked with a mushroom expert to find out how to confirm they are edible and we fried them up. They were wonderful and had a delicious woody flavour.

Carleton Place  - dismanteling shed
Pierre taking down the old shed.

As the weather improved, it was time to move the shed. When we moved in I realized that the shed blocked the view of the lovely flower garden and we wanted to move it to the other side. I had procrastinated the last year and this year I thought since we are at home I would try to move it. When I lifted it up to get something underneath, the base was very rotten and I realized that it had to come down.

Carleton Place  - dismanteling old shed
It’s a big heavy and mess job.

It was a bigger job than I thought and found some carpenter ants while wrecking the shed. Spray fixed that and I made a lot of garbage.

Carleton Place  - last of the old shed
The rotten shed and all the garbage.

I ended up renting a trailer and along with our neighbour Les taking all this stuff along with some garbage from him to the transfer station. Linda wanted to get a shed once the old one was gone. A good sized one was on sale and we went to buy it and had used the same trailer that we took the garbage to the transfer station to bring the shed home.

Carleton Place - Hector Helping to dig
Hector is helping to dig holes.

The new shed needed a stable and level base so I started to dig the holes. Hector wanted to help dig so he started…there were lots of roots and he chewed right through them. It took longer than expected but was lots of fun to watch.

Carleton Place  -  New shed base
I used these blocks to raise and hold the frame.
Carleton Place - Base filled
Once the frame was built, I used crushed rock to fill inside to prevent critters from getting under and give it a little more stability.
Carleton Place - Base with top
Covered the base with pressure treated plywood.
Carleton Place - Les and Pierre and Shed
Setting it up with the help of a neighbour.

I needed a little help and our wonderful neighbour Les came over and helped get the walls up and the roof on the new shed.

Carleton Place - finished shed
Ta Da! The new shed.

Finally the shed was up and the weather was good.

Carleton Place  - dusk at Carleton Junction
A beautiful night at Carleton Junctions.
Carleton Place  - Linda and Hector relaxing in the sun
With the good weather Hector is back sitting outside.

It started to become warm enough for us to sit outside for our morning coffee and Hector, not wanting to be left out wanted to be with us.

Carleton Place  - Wine cooler and dinner
Warm enough for dinner and wine outside.

It’s so nice to be able to sit outside and enjoy dinner.

Carleton Place  - General Tso tofu
We learned to cook on the BBQ.

As we didn’t have a stove to cook on I learned to use the burner on the BBQ as well as the one in the trailer to make meals. General Tso tofu.

Carleton Place  - Something bloomed at home
Anthurium Plant that bloomed for us.
Carleton Place  - The yellow rose
One of the new plants to the cleaned up garden. A yellow rose.

We bought some roses for the garden and they started to bloom.

Carleton Place  - the fancy rose
One of the first blooms on the fancy rose.
Beveridge Locks - Les preparing for a boat ride
Les taking us out boating.

Our wonderful neighbour Les invited us boating. Linda couldn’t come for some reason but Sheila came with us and we put in at Beverage Locks and boated to Westport for lunch. As almost everything was closed due to COVID-19 we had ice cream for lunch.

Lake Mississippi - Pierre with a fish
Pierre showing a fish he really caught.

It was warm enough o go fishing at last. Les and I went fishing and I actually caught two fish. A walleye and a bass, both were gently released back into the lake.

Lake Mississippi - Les on the boat
Thanks Les.

It was just a lovely day on the water and a couple of fish didn’t hurt. A great fun trip.

Carleton Place  - salad greens
Garden lettuce.

As the summer progressed we started to harvest from the garden.

Carleton Place  - Pierre with fishing gear
Birthday present waders.

I used to have some lovely waders and they rotted away. For my birthday Linda bought me new ones.

Carleton Place  - Pierre fly fishing catch
Just a little fish!

I had to try them out and found this little guy in the Mississippi River in Ontario.

Gravenhust - social distance bubble
Visiting Kim and Diane in Muskoka.

We needed a road trip so we went to visit Diane and Kim at their house in Muskoka.

Gravenhurst - Linda bailing out the paddle boat
It had rained enough to have Linda empty out the boat before we could go out.

Kim has a lovely little paddle boat and we had to empty it out before we could go out and see how hector likes boating.

Gravenhurst - Hector just before he fell into the lake
What’s in the water?

I wish I had set up the camera for when he fell in. Hector is a good swimmer but hates the water. I think we might have issues getting him in a boat again.